By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Since the Presidential address in the Parliament is supposed to summarise the government’s achievements and intentions followed by meaningful debate, in which opposition raises points of concern, the Prime Minister is expected to address them during his reply to the ‘Motion of Thanks’. However, in reply to the scathing attack by opposition on government policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chiefly slammed and lampooned the opposition, indulged in self-praise, and by and large evaded any direct reply to the points raised by the opposition. His reply was just like an election speech on the eve of Lok Sabha election 2024.
When the opposition has raised many issues during the debate which included high level of unemployment, breach of federal principles, and communal division of the people of the country for the sake of vote, PM Modi began his address by mentioning his government’s top achievements – which were new Parliament House and establishment of Sengol in it.
He claimed beginning a new tradition in the new Parliament House, and claimed it enhanced the value of ‘democracy’ multiple fold. The claim was in contradiction to the opposition’s view that Sengol traditional symbol for a ‘kingdom’ and also of ‘Hindu Rashtra’, and it had nothing to do with ‘secular democracy’.
Nevertheless, immediately thereafter, he started lampooning the opposition by running them down, indicating the Congress and saying that they would be in the ‘visitor’s gallery’ after the Lok Sabha election. He specifically mentioned the name of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan. He said that many among them have just lost the courage to even contest election, and many wanted to even change their constituency, adding that several searching for the escape route to Rajya Sabha, rather than Lok Sabha.
In his overconfident he asserted that his government’s third term is not far away – just within 100-125 days. I see that NDA would cross 400 seats while BJP would have at least 370 seats. One can ask a simple question – was it relevant answer to the opposition raised points of concern that the country and its people are facing today – such as high level of poverty and unemployment that has made even PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana to feed about 80 crore people who can’t even purchase foodgrains to satisfy their hunger? Or was it the relevant answer for effecting communal division among electorate or “breach” of federal principle of the country and its “secular democracy”?
His statement of overconfidence came just after he mentioned that Rama, the God, has returned home, referring to his controversial opening of Ram Temple of Ayodhya and Pran Pratishtha of RSS-BJP’s new idol of Lord Ram during inauspicious time, which they have named “Balak Ram”. It should be noted that old “Ram Lalla” idol has been given secondary place. He said that the Temple would keep instilling new energy to India’s great ‘cultural tradition’.
PM Modi was just setting the tone of forthcoming Lok Sabha election campaign by polarization of Hindu votes in the name of ‘cultural tradition’. Certainly, it was not the reply of the policy of communal division concern raised by the opposition, during the debate on ‘Motion of Thanks’.
Women, youths, farmers, and the poor were specifically mentioned by the Prime Minister as four strong columns for development of the country. It should be noted that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has claimed in her Interim Union Budget 2024-25 speech that PM Modi had given them “highest priority”, which was simply a lie, since the six Core of the Core Schemes of the Centre are not related to them, but related to workers, minority, SCs, and STs, and a social sector scheme. Now, PM Modi, employed his extended logic to emphasize empowering these four, who actually suffered the worst in the last 10 years of his rule. There were no other group of people in the country who suffered like these four.
PM Modi attacked the opposition and said that these four groups have been divided by them in the name of minority. He alleged that the opposition was dividing people in the name of minority. Then he directly came to attack Congress and said it was the most responsible for the divisive politics. He said that Congress got 10 years to prove themselves as the good opposition, but they failed in their responsibility in this role, and disrupted the proceedings of the Parliament. He criticized Congress for nepotism and dynastic politics, and spent considerable time in criticizing the party.
Describing the presidential address as the roadmap of a developed country, PM Modi started his self-praise, that the whole world is now seeing towards India, which is the result of his 10 years of rule. He claimed that India would become the third biggest economic power in the world, and pegged it as PM Modi’s Guarantee.
It should be noted that PM has just avoided to answer the concerns raised by the opposition about rising inequality amidst India’s deceptive GDP growth narrative as told to the electorate by the BJP campaigners. The reality is that, India’s being fifth biggest economy at present, houses the biggest number of poverty stricken people, 80 crore of them are on free foodgrain by government, and 97 crore can’t afford healthy food.
PM Modi said that he would tell people what is the role of his government in making Indian economic growth to happen is such a fast pace within 10 years of his rule. He criticized the earlier government’s beginning from the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, and not lampooning Rahul Gandhi without naming him. He said that Congress was too slow in developing the country.
PM Modi boasted about several schemes of his government, such as providing pucca houses to crores of people, but avoided his Housing for All assurance, sanitation coverage to all (which is not even seen on the railroad sides), large electrification of railway track, 17 crore gas connection, abrogation of 370, political reservation to women (to be implemented in future), and so on. He went on giving Modi’s guarantees for the future. However, everybody knows that his earlier assurances to be fulfilled by 2022 are yet to be fulfilled, which included doubling farmer’s income. He had also assured ‘work with dignity for all hands that wanted to work’ during election campaigns 2014, but is yet unfulfilled. His assurance and warrantees under conditions applied proved to be jumalas, but PM has generously given Modi’s Guarantees during his speech, but all for the future.
Clearly, the level of the “Motion of Thanks” debate reply of PM Narendra Modi is marked by such a fall, that is perhaps worst of all in the parliamentary debates on such occasions in the Independent India. (IPA Service)
The post Opposition’s Points Raised During Debate On ‘Motion Of Thanks’ Unanswered first appeared on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.
